A special bond: The Balinese girl and her rescued dogs

Agung Dewi hugs Selip, the black dog that she believes saved her life when she was in hospital with food poisoning two years ago. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Ubud, Bali - Twelve-year-old Agung Dewi likes to play with her dogs when she gets home from school. The little girl and her family have adopted 29 street dogs in the past two years, providing them with a kinder life, food and shelter in their small house in the village of Mas, lying outside of the city of Ubud, on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

The story of Agung Dewi and her dogs began when she was treated in hospital for food poisoning in 2014. Her condition was dire, and she was unable to eat anything during her two weeks in hospital, her father, Oka Yasna recalls. One day, while on his way to the hospital he saw a cute black stray dog, and took it with him to cheer up his daughter.

"I told her, 'Dewi, I brought you a dog, don't you love it?' and I put the dog beside her." She responded right away, the father says. She threw up, then sat up with a smile and hugged the dog, and asked for food. She recovered soon after and went home, taking the dog with her.

Agung Dewi believes that the dog, which she has named Selip, saved her life and she began adopting other strays she met in the village.

Balinese efforts to cull the island's stray dog population followingoutbreaks of rabies since 2008, often using what are considered cruel methods such as shooting or poisoning, have led to an outcry by animal rights groups.

"We don't like the way they prevent rabies by killing the dogs," Agung Dewi and her dad agree.

A vaccination campaign for the dogs, has reportedly brought the disease under control in recent years.

Agung Dewi says it is her routine to walk her adopted dogs each morning. At some point, her family was caring for almost 60 dogs. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Another of Agung Dewi's dogs, Selem, escorts her to school each day. He always follows her around. Stray dogs are a common sight on the streets of Bali, but a government culling campaign has led to an outcry from animal rights organisations. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Agung Dewi watches television with Selip and Selem asleep near her feet. Even though the family is very poor, Oka Yusna, Dewi's fathers says he just wants to make his little girl happy and not get ill again. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Jro Tirta, Dewi's mother gives some medicine to Desy, another of their adopted dogs because it was attacked by someone in the street. Agung Dewi says that many villagers are not fond of their dogs and the dogs are sometimes attacked. 'But we never know who they are,' she says. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Agung Dewi credits dogs with saving her life, and has a strong bond with the animals. She is upset that stray dogs are killed to curb rabies. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Balinese people think that dogs are an important part of their culture and associate them with the Hindu notion of unconditional devotion. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Agung Dewi prays with her father at a temple in their village near Ubud, on Bali. Dogs play an important role in several Hindu religious texts and many Balinese people give special reverence to the stray dogs on the island. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Agung Dewi feeds her dogs. They found the strays around their house on the outskirts of their village. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

According to data from the provincial husbandry agency, there are 500,000 dogs on Bali. Of these, 200,000 have been vaccinated for the rabies virus. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

The family says that villagers often discard puppies, especially female pups, near their house. Dewi and the family taken them in and take care of them. They feed the dogs twice a day. They receive food and supplies from the Bali Animal Welfare Association (BAWA), an animal rescue organisation. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

Agung Dewi, 12, says she wants to become a policewoman so that she can one day bring to justice those who kill dogs. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]

The dogs sleep in front of Agung Dewi's room. All their dogs come back home for the night. [Agung Parameswara/Al Jazeera]